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PAMPHLET  No.  1. 


^  BRIEF 


^ss0riation:^ 


HISTORY 

OF  ITS 

ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH. 


Published  by  the  American  Missionary  Association, 


Office  66  Reade  Street, 


187  8. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofitOOamer 


mcritaii 


PAMPHLET  No.  1. 


^  BRIEF 

HISTORY 

OF  ITS 

ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH. 


UeMt 

Published  by  the  American  Missionary  Association, 
Office,  56  Reade  Street. 


56  READS  STREET,  N.  Y. 


PKESIDENT. 

Hon.  E.  S.  TOBEY,  Boston. 


VICE-PKESIDENTS. 

Hon.  F.  D.  Paeish,  Ohio.  Rev.  G.  F.  Magoun,  D.H.,  Iowa. 

Rev.  Jonathan  Blanchaed,  Ill.  Col.  C.  G.  Hammond,  Ill. 

Hon.  E.  D.  Holton,  Wis.  Edwaed  Spaulding,  M.D.,  N.  H. 

Hon.  William  Claflin,  Mass.  David  Riplet,  Esq.,  N.  J. 

Rev.  Stephen  Thueston,  D.D.,  Me.  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Baebour,  D.D.,  Ct. 
Rev.  Samuel  Haeeis,  D.D.,  Ct.  Rev.  W.  L.  Gage,  Ct. 


Rev.  Silas  McKeen,  D.D.,  Vt. 
William  C.  Chapin,  Esq.,  R.  I. 
Rev.  W.  T.  Eustis,  Mass. 

Hon.  A.  C.  Baestow,  R.  I. 


A.  S.  Hatch,  Esq.,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Faiechild,  D.D.,  Ohio. 
Rev.  H.  A.  Stimson,  Minn. 

Rev.  J.  W.  Strong,  D.D.,  Minn. 


Rev.  Thatcher  Thayer,  D.D., R.  I.  Rev.  Geo.  Thacher,  LL.D.,  Iowa. 
Rev.  Rat  Palmer,  D.D.,  N.  Y.  Rev.  A.  L.  Stone,  D.D.,  Cal. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Sturtevant,  D.D.,  Ill.  Rev.  G.  H.  Atkinson,  D.D.,  Oregon 

Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  D.D.,  D.  C.  Rev.  J.  E.  Rankin,  D.D.,  D.  C. 

Hon.  Seymour  Straight,  La.  Rev.  A.  L.  Chapin,  D.D.,  Wis. 

Rev.  D.  M.  Graham,  D.D.,  Mich.  S.  D.  Smith,  Esq.,  Mass. 

Horace  Hallock,  Esq.,  Mich.  Rev.  H.  M.  Parsons,  N.  Y. 

Rev.  CtrusW.  Wallace,  D.D.,  N.H.  Peter  Smith,  Esq.,  Mass. 

Rev.  Edward  Hawes,  Ct.  Dea.  John  Whiting,  Mass. 

Douglas  Putnam,  Esq.,  Ohio.  Rev.  William  Patton,  D.  D.,  Ct. 
Hon.  Thaddeus  Fairbanks,  Vt.  Hon.  J.  B.  Grinnell,  Iowa. 


Samuel  D.  Porter,  Esq.,  N.  Y. 
Rev.  M.  M.  G.  Dana,  D.D.,  Minn. 
Rev.  H.  W.  Beecher,  N.  Y. 

Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  Oregon. 

Rev.  Edward  L.  Clark, "N.  Y. 


Rev.  William  T.  Carr,  Ct. 

Rev.  Horace  Winslow,  Ct. 

Sir  Peter  Coats,  Scotland.  [Eng. 
Rev.  Henry  Allon,  D.D.,  London, 
William  E.  Whiting,  Esq.,  N.  Y. 


J.  M.  Pinkerton,  Esq.,  Mass. 


CORRESPONDING  SECRETARY, 

Rev.  M.  E.  STRIEBY,  56  Beade  Street,  N.  Y. 

DISTRICT  secretaries, 

Rev.  CHARLES  L.  WOODWORTH,  Boston. 
Rev.  G.  D.  PIKE,  New  York. 

Rev.  JAMES  POWELL,  Chicago. 


EDGAR  KETCHUM,  Esq.,  Treasurer,  N.  Y. 

H.  W.  HUBBARD,  Esq.,  Assistant  Treasurer,  N.  Y. 
Rev.  M.  E.  STRIEBY,  Recording  Secretary. 


Alonzo  S.  Ball, 

A.  S.  Barnes, 
Edward  Beecher, 
George  M.  Boynton, 
William  B.  Brown, 


EXECUTIVE  committee. 

Clinton  B.  Fisk, 

A.  P.  Foster, 
Augustus  E.  Graves, 
S.  B.  Halliday, 
Samuel  Holmes, 


S.  S.  Jocelyn, 
Andrew  Lester, 
Charles  L.  Mead, 
John  H.  Washburn, 
G.  B.  WiLLCOX. 


HISTORY 


OF  THE 

American  Missionary  Association. 


OKGANIZATION  AND  EARLY  LABORS. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  was  formed 
September  3, 1846.  It  v  as  preceded  by  four  recently  estab¬ 
lished  missionary  organizations,  which  were  subsequently 
merged  into  it.  They  were  the  result  of  a  growing  dis¬ 
satisfaction  with  the  comparative  silence  of  the  older 
missionary  societies  in  regard  to  slavery,  and  were  a  pro¬ 
test  against  it. 

Seven  years  earlier,  the  Amistad  Committee  had  been 
raised  to  secure  counsel  to  defend,  against  the  charge  of 
murder  on  the  high  seas,  the  forty-two  negroes  who  had 
formed  the  cargo  of  the  Spanish  slave-schooner  Amistad,” 
and  who  had  risen  against  their  captors.  The  Kev.  S.  S. 
Jocelyn,  still  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
A.  M.  A.,  was  at  the  head  of  this  committee.  As  a  result 
of  their  efforts,  continuing  a  year  and  a  half,  the  captives 
were  pronounced  free  men,  and  were  at  Farmington,  Conn., 
until  November,  1841,  under  the  instruction  of  Prof.  Geo. 
E.  Day,  D.  D.,  when  they  sailed  for  their  native  land,  ac¬ 
companied  by  three  missionaries,  sent  by  the  committee. 


4 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATIOK. 


The  infant  mission  thus  founded  at  Kaw  Mendi,  West 
Africa,  was  then  transferred  to  the  Union  Missionary 
Society,  which,  in  1846,  was  merged  into  the  A.  M.  A. 

The  Committee  for  West  India  Missions  among  the  re¬ 
cently  freed  inhabitants  of  Jamaica,  formed  in  1844,  and 
the  Western  Evangelical  Missionary  Society,  organized  in 
1843,  for  work  among  the  American  Indians,  also  trans¬ 
ferred  their  missions  and  funds  to  the  A.  M.  A. 

Thus  organized  and  reinforced,  the  Association  entered 
upon  the  work  with  increased  vigor,  strengthening  the 
missions  already  begun,  and  establishing  or  accepting  the 
care  of  others — one  missionary  at  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
two  in  Siam,  and  a  number  of  ministers  and  teachers  labor¬ 
ing  among  the  colored  refugees  in  Canada,  being  taken 
under  its  care ;  so  that,  in  1854,  its  laborers  in  the  foreign 
field,  to  which  its  efforts  were  first  directed,  numbered 
seventy -nine,  and  were  located  in  West  Africa,  Jamaica,  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  Siam,  Canada  and  Minnesota. 

The  Home  Department  of  the  Association  was  con¬ 
ducted  with  a  special  view  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel, 
free  from  all  complicity  with  slavery  and  caste.  The  largest 
number  of  Home  Missionaries  employed  by  the  Association 
was  110  in  the  year  1855 ;  they  were  located  in  the  North¬ 
western  States,  and  in  Kentucky  and  North  Carolina. 

AMONG  THE  SLAVES. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  has  the  distinction 
of  beginning  the  first  decided  efforts,  while  slavery  existed, 
for  the  education  and  religious  instruction  of  the  people  of 
the  South,  on  an  avowedly  anti-slavery  basis. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION^. 


5 


Its  work  among  the  slaves  at  home  was  prosecuted  till 
1861,  in  the  midst  of  great  difficulties  and  oppositions,  and 
the  history  of  these  efforts  is  full  of  interest. 

Rev.  John  G.  Fee  was  the  pioneer  in  this  movement.  A 
Kentuckian  by  birth,  the  son  of  a  slaveholder,  disinherited 
by  his  father  on  account  of  his  anti-slavery  principles,  he 
collected  a  church  of  non-slaveholders,  and  applied  to  the 
American  Missionary  Association  for  a  commission.  The 
Association  was  ready  to  welcome  such  a  man,  and  gave 
him  a  commission,  dated  October  10th,  1848. 

Mr.  Fee’s  labors  were  abundant.  He  preached  in  many 
places,  and  organized  a  second  non-slaveholding  church. 
Sunday-schools  were  established  and  day-schools  begun. 
The  beginnings  were  made  of  what  has  since  become  Berea 
College. 

In  March,  1851,  the  Association  commissioned  Rev. 
Daniel  Worth  as  a  missionary  in  FTorth  Carolina.  He,  too, 
was  a  native  of  the  State  in  which  he  labored,  and  had  been 
a  magistrate  in  the  county.  He  preached  to  six  feeble 
non-slaveholding  churches. 

The  next  year  the  Association  appointed  three  mission¬ 
aries  for  Kansas,  and  others  soon  followed  to  share  the 
trials  and  meet  the  dangers  attendant  on  the  efforts  to 
settle  that  State  with  free  men,  and  to  plant  there  a  free 
Gospel. 

These  laborers  in  the  South  encountered  much  opposi¬ 
tion  and  persecution,  especially  in  Kentucky  and  Kansas, 
until  at  length  came  the  raid  of  John  Brown  (October, 
1859),  the  universal  terror  of  the  South,  and  with  it  the 
expulsion  of  all  our  missionaries  from  Kentucky  and  North 
Carolina, 


6 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATIOK. 


DUEING  THE  WAE. 

The  Union  armies,  on  entering  the  South,  found  a  sur¬ 
prising  thirst  for  knowledge  among  the  negroes;  and 
chaplains  and  Christian  soldiers  became,  to  a  limited  ex¬ 
tent,  their  teachers.  But  the  first  systematic  effort  for  their 
relief  and  instruction  was  made  by  the  American  Mission¬ 
ary  Association.  Large  numbers  of  “contrabands,”  or 
escaping  fugitive  slaves,  were  gathered  at  Fortress  Monroe 
and  Hampton,  and,  in  consequence  of  the  burning  of  the 
latter  place,  were  homeless  and  destitute.  In  common 
with  other  and  temporary  organizations,  it  distributed  large 
quantities  of  food  and  clothing  among  them;  but  this 
was  not  enough,  and  the  Association  commissioned  Eev.  L. 
0.  Lockwood  as  a  missionary,  and  sent  him  to  make  inves¬ 
tigations.  He  reached  Hampton  September  3,  1861,  and 
found  a  number  of  colored  people  assembled  for  prayer. 
They  hailed  his  coming  as  the  answer  to  their  supplications ; 
and  the  next  day  arrangements  were  made  for  meetings  in 
several  places,  the  house  of  ex-President  Tyler  being  one  of 
them.  A  Sabbath -school  was  opened  in  that  house  on  the 
15th— a  new  use  for  that  mansion,  and  a  new  era  for  the 
colored  people.  Other  Sunday-schools  soon  followed. 

But  the  great  event  in  Mr.  Lockwood’s  mission  was  that 
on  the  17th  of  September,  1861,  he  established  the  'first  day- 
school  for  those  liberated  by  the  chances  of  war.  The  teacher 
of  that  humble  school  was  Mrs.  Mary  S.  Peake,  an  amiable 
and  intelligent  Christian  woman.  Her  mother  was  a  free 
colored  woman,  her  father  a  white  man— an  Englishman  of 
rank  and  culture. 

That  little  school  was  the  harbinger  of  the  hundreds  that 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


7 


luive  followed.  The  spot  where  the  school-house  stood  was 
on  the  coast  where,  two  hundred  and  forty-one  years  before, 
the  first  slave-ship  entered  the  line  of  the  American  con¬ 
tinent.  That  first  slave-ship  and  this  first  negro  school 
will  hereafter  be  contrasted  as  the  initiators  of  two  widely 
different  eras — of  barbarism  and  of  civilization. 

This  beginning  was  followed  by  other  schools  and  with 
religious  services.  The  Executive  Committee,  soon  feeling 
the  influence  of  foreshadowed  events,  withdrew  its  Home 
Missionaries  from  the  North-west,  and  concentrated  the 
energies  of  the  Association  more  fully  on  the  new  field 
opening  at  the  South. 

During  the  year  1862  its  schools  and  religious  efforts 
were  extended  at  Hampton  and  vicinity,  the  distribution 
of  a  large  quantity  of  clothing  being  a  part  of  its  work.  It 
opened  a  school  at  Norfolk,  founded  two  schools  at  New¬ 
port  News,  and  took  its  share  in  the  work  on  the  Port 
Royal  Islands.  In  May,  it  began  a  mission  among  the 
colored  people  who  crowded  Washington  City,  and,  before 
the  year  closed,  at  Cairo,  Ill.,  where  these  people  had  begun 
to  gather  in  large  numbers. 

WITH  THE  FREEDMEN. 

EMANCIPATION. 

The  Proclamation  of  Emancipation,  dated  January  1st, 
1863,  insured  the  permanent  freedom  of  those  who  reached 
the  Union  lines.  A  sense  of  justice  to  the  long-oppressed 
slave  awoke  an  enthusiasm  at  the  North,  second  only  to  that 
which  impelled  the  soldiers  to  enter  the  army.  Hundreds 
of  ladies,  refined  and  educated,  many  of  them  teachers  in 
Northern  schools,  volunteered  their  services ;  clothing  and 


8 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATIOK. 


supplies  were  offered  in  large  quantities ;  religious  denomi¬ 
nations  sent  ministers  and  teachers  to  various  points ;  and 
individuals  sought  the  field  and  worked  alone. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  rapidly  extended 
its  work.  At  Is^orfolk,  the  solitary  school  of  the  previous 
year  gave  place  to  an  enlargement  beyond  precedent.  The 
number  in  the  day-school  was  as  high  as  1,200,  of  whom 
25  only  were  adults ;  hut  in  the  night-schools,  after  the 
fatigues  of  the  day,  400  grown  people  were  seen,  making 
half  of  the  800  in  attendance.  In  the  three  Sahbath- 
schools  there  were  1,500,  of  whom  500  were  adults. 

On  many  abandoned  plantations  around  Norfolk,  occu¬ 
pied  by  colored  people,  the  Association  planted  schools  and 
preached  the  Gospel.  The  estate  of  ex-Governor  Wise 
was  thus  occupied,  and  his  mansion  was  used  as  a  school- 
house  and  a  home  for  teachers  of  colored  people. 

The  success  of  our  arms  on  the  Mississippi,  culminating 
in  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  July  4th,  opened  a  wide 
door  of  usefulness  and  charity,  which  the  Association  en¬ 
tered  promptly  and  efficiently.  Missionaries  and  teachers 
were  sent  to  Columbus,  Ky.,  Cairo,  Ill.,  Memphis,  Tenn., 
President  Island,  and  Camps  Fisk  and  Shiloh.  These 
laborers  had  a  blessed  yet  trying  work  in  teaching  the 
schools,  visiting  from  hut  to  hut,  and  in  preaching  the 
Gospel. 

STEADY  PROGRESS. 

This  progress  in  1864,  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the 
Association  employed  250  missionaries  and  teachers,  in¬ 
stead  of  83,  the  year  before.  This  force  was  scattered  over 
the  field  held  by  our  armies,  being  most  numerous  in 
Virginia  and  along  the  line  of  the  Mississippi. 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


9  . 


TLOSE  OF  THE  WAR — FREEDMEN’S  BUREAU — BOSTON  COUNCIL. 

Tlie  year  1865  was  marked  by  events  of  more  than  usual 
importance  to  tlie  Freedmen  and  the  Association.  Promi¬ 
nent  among  these  was  the  close  of  the  war,  and  the  estab¬ 
lishment,  by  Act  of  Congress,  of  the  Freedmen’s  Bureau, 
which  distributed  in  various  ways,  in  aid  of  the  Freedmen, 
$12,965,395.40. 

A  National  Council  of  Congregational  Churches  as¬ 
sembled  in  Boston,  in  June.  It  recommended  to  the 
churches  to  raise  $250,000  for  the  work  among  the  Freed¬ 
men,  and  designated  this  Association  as  the  organization 
providentially  fitted  for  that  work.  This  generous  endorse¬ 
ment  induced  the  Association  to  enlarge  its  administrative 
force,  and  to  prepare  itself  for  still  wider  operations  in  the 
field.  The  number  of  its  teachers  had  risen  to  320. 

NORMAL  SCHOOLS — OPPOSITION — SUCCESS. 

The  operations  of  the  Association  in  1867  were  marked 
by  a  large  increase  in  its  force  of  missionaries  and  teachers 
among  the  Freedmen,  reaching  the  unprecedented  number 
of  528.  The  extension  of  Normal  Schools,  the  founding  of 
the  Industrial  School  at  Hampton,  Va.,  the  efforts  at  tem¬ 
perance  reform,  and  the  gathering  of  churches,  were 
among  the  important  events  of  the  year. 

The  year  1868  was  one  of  terror  in  the  South.  The 
blacks  were  denied  employment,  when  it  meant  starvation ; 
they  were  assaulted  by  mobs  and  shot  down  in  the  streets, 
when  they  and  their  white  friends  attempted  to  assemble 
in  political  meetings ;  and  they  were  dragged  from  their 
homes  at  midnight,  and  murdered  in  cold  blood  by  the  in¬ 
famous  Ku-Klux-Klan s — the  Thugs  of  America. 


10 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


Undeterred  by  these  dangers,  the  Association  sent  more 
missionaries  and  teachers  into  the  South  than  in  anj  pre¬ 
vious  year — 532  in  number.  They  were,  to  a  large  extent, 
the  objects  of  this  embittered  hatred,  but  God  mercifully 
stretched  His  protecting  arm  around  them,  and,  with  some 
exceptions,  not  only  kept  them  in  safety,  but  made  them 
leaders  and  moral  supporters  of  the  people  of  their  flocks 
and  schools. 

PEEMANENT  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 

These  dark  days  gradually  passed  away,  and  the  progress 
of  the  educational  work  became  more  rapid  in  the  return¬ 
ing  light.  It  was  more  and  more  evident  that  this  peo¬ 
ple  must  become  largely  their  own  educators.  Hence  the 
policy  of  the  Association,  to  form  permanent  educational 
institutions  for  them,  took  more  definite  shape.  The 
teachers  were  withdrawn  from  the  primary  schools,  in 
great  measure ;  and  graded  and  normal  schools,  colleges, 
incipient  universities  and  theological  classes  were  estab¬ 
lished — the  design  being  to  plant  a  school  of  high  grade  in 
each  of  the  principal  cities  or  centres  of  population,  and 
one  college  or  university  in  each  of  the  large  Southern  States. 

The  statistical  tables  appended  will  show  the  number 
and  location  of  the  schools  established  by  the  Association. 
The  beneficial  result  of  this  new  method  is  seen  in  the  large 
number  of  teachers  sent  out  from  these  schools  and  the 
annually  increasing  number  of  pupils  they  are  teaching. 
It  is  estimated  that  100,000  scholars  are  annually  in¬ 
structed  by  such  teachers.' 

Some  of  the  institutions  are  under  the  control  of  Boards  of 
Trustees,  and  the  relation  of  the  Association  to  them  is  that 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


11 


of  parental  interest  in  their  welfare,  and  not  of  control.  The 
Hampton  Institute,  Fisk  University  and  Berea  College 
have  erected  large  and  convenient  buildings.  Virginia 
Hall,  at  Hampton,  is  an  honor  to  the  Mother  State.  Jubilee 
Hall  adorns  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  is  a  monument  to  the 
wonderful  success  of  the  Jubilee  Singers,  whose  songs  have 
delighted  vast  audiences  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
have  won  the  means  for  the  erection  of  the  hall,  and  for  the 
purchase  of  the  ample  grounds  on  which  it  is  located. 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  Talladega,  Ala.,  and  Tougaloo,  Miss.,  have 
also  large  and  commodious,  though  not  altogether  sufficient 
buildings.  Straight  University,  at  New  Orleans,  will  soon 
again,  we  hope,  be  in  possession  of  a  home  fully  equal  to 
that  destroyed  by  fire,  and  better  located.  Other  schools, 
as  at  Macon,  Mobile,  Charleston  and  Savannah  have  sub-  ‘ 
stantial  and  well-adapted  houses. 

By  the  generous  gifts  and  labors  of  the  Rev.  George  J. 
Tillotson,  of  Connecticut,  a  fund  is  accumulating  with 
which  to  build  and  endow  a  Collegiate  and  Normal  Insti¬ 
tute,  at  Austin,  Texas,  upon  a  site  already  secured. 

AID  FROM  ABROAD. 

It  is  estimated  that  from  Great  Britain  more  than  a 
million  of  dollars  in  money  and  clothing  has  been  con¬ 
tributed,  through  various  channels,  for  the  Freedmen. 
The  Missionary  Association  has  shared  in  the  kind  words 
and  substantial  help  that  have  come  from  across  the  water. 
The  formation,  in  1872,  of  the  Freedmen’s  Missions  Aid 
Society,”  in  London,  auxiliary  to  this  Association,  and  the 
continued  support  it  renders,  are  evidence  of  the  permanent 
interest  of  our  British  friends  in  the  work  of  the  Association. 


vz 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATIOK. 


CHURCHES  IN  THE  SOUTH. 

CHURCH  PLANTING. 

Simultaneously  with  the  founding  of  these  permanent 
institutions,  the  Association  began  the  planting  of  churches. 
These  were  organized  with  caution,  more  solicitude  being 
felt  as  to  character  than  number.  They  were  formed 
mainly  in  connection  with  the  educational  institutions,  and 
were  intended  to  be  models  of  the  true  Christian  and 
church  life. 

The  Association  has  reached  a  point  where  it  is  prepared 
for  a  great  enlargement  of  the  church  work.  The  schools 
have  enlightened  the  people,  and  the  pupils  who  are  going 
forth  in  increasing  numbers  as  teachers  will  extend  this 
intelligence  in  ever-widening  circles.  The  influence  of  the 
old  colored  ministers,  many  of  whom  are  ignorant  and  im¬ 
moral,  will  gradually  wane  under  the  new  light ;  and  the 
theological  classes  of  the  higher  schools  will  furnish  better 
pastors. 

The  Association  has  aided  these  churches  to  the  full 
extent  of  its  ability,  in  the  erection  of  neat  but  inexpensive 
church  edifices,  and  in  the  support  of  their  ministers.  They 
have  been  blessed  with  frequent  revivals,  and  have  been 
very  useful  in  establishing  Sabbath-schools  and  in  the  for¬ 
mation  of  temperance  societies.  The  number  of  these 
churches,  and  their  total  membership,  are  given  in  the 
statistical  tables. 

FELLOWSHIP  OF  THE  CHURCHES. 

The  churches  under  the  care  of  the  Association  in  the 
South  are  distributed  from  Hampton,  in  Eastern  Virginia, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATIOJI. 


13 


to  Goliad  in  Texas.  But  they  are  not  without  fellowship. 
Six  ecclesiastical  Associations  or  Conferences  have  been 
formed.  The  one  first  organized  was  the  South-western 
Conference,  embracing  the  churches  in  Louisiana ;  then,  in 
order,  the  Central  South  Conference,  including  the  churches 
in  Tennessee  and  Western  Georgia;  the  Congregational 
Conference  of  Texas,  with  the  churches  in  that  State ;  the 
Association  of  Christian  Churches  and  Ministers  of  Ken¬ 
tucky  ;  the  Conference  of  South-eastern  Georgia,  embrac¬ 
ing  the  churches  of  Savannah  and  vicinity,  and  of  Charles¬ 
ton,  S.  C. ;  and,  latest,  that  of  Alabama. 

CONSOLIDATION—THE  DESPISED  EACES. 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  in  1874,  the  Association  resolved 
to  take  measures  to  transfer  all  its  foreign  missions,  except 
that  of  Western  Africa,  and  concentrate  its  efforts  on  the 
three  despised  races  of  men — the  Kegro,  the  Indian,  and  the 
Chinaman — seeking  to  lift  them  up  from  ignorance  and 
caste  prejudice,  to  fit  them  for  Christian  citizenship  in 
America,  and  to  make  them  the  bearers  of  Christian  civili¬ 
zation  to  the  lands  of  their  forefathers.  This  transfer  and 
concentration  have  now  been  fully  accomplished. 

THE  CHINESE  IN  AMEEICA. 

The  American  Missionary  Association  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  missionary  service  among  the  Chinese  immi¬ 
grants  to  California.  As  early  as  1 852,  Eev.  S.  V.  Blakeslee, 
under  the  auspices  of  this  Society,  undertook  to  reach  and 
save  these  heathen  strangers,  on  a  plan  substantially  the  same 
as  that  which,  in  these  later  years,  is  proving  its  wisdom  by 


14 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


its  great  success — that  is,  he  proposed  to  teach  them  Eng¬ 
lish,  instead  of  requiring  their  teachers  to  learn  Chinese. 
The  times  were  not  ripe  for  the  effort  then ;  or  for  some 
other  reason  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

In  1870,  the  work  laid  down  sixteen  or  seventeen  years 
before  was  resumed,  and  now  is  under  the  immediate  care 
of  the  “  California  Chinese  Mission,”  auxiliary  to  the 
American  Missionary  Association,  with  Rev.  W.  C.  Pond  as 
superintendent,  aided  by  an  efficient  corps  of  teachers. 
The  labors  of  this  auxiliary  are  very  encouraging,  reaching, 
with  Christian  instruction,  some  1,200  pupils  a  year,  and 
showing  the  results  of  Christian  influence  in  the  renounce¬ 
ment  of  idolatry,  and  the  adoption  of  Christian  habits  of 
life,  and,  to  a  gratifying  extent,  in  radical  conversions  to 
Christian  discipleship. 

THE  INDIANS. 

EARLY  LABORS. 

Among  the  earliest  labors  of  the  Association  were  those 
among  the  Indians.  The  Western  Evangelical  Missionary 
Society,  one  of  the  four  organizations  out  of  which  the 
A.  M.  A.  was  formed,  was  engaged  exclusively  in  this  work, 
which  it  transferred  to  us.  The  beginnings  thus  made  and 
transmitted  to  us  were  enlarged  and  extended,  until  in 
"  1852  we  had  twenty-one  missionaries  stationed  among  the 
Indians  of  the  North-west. 

Various  causes  conspired  to  a  gradual  diminution  of  these 
missions  until,  at  length,  the  supreme  demand  of  the  newly 
emancipated  slaves  claimed,  and,  almost  of  necessity,  for  the 
time  absorbed  the  entire  care  and  strength  of  the  Asso¬ 
ciation. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


15 


THE  NEW  POLICY. 

General  Grant’s  administration  has  the  credit  of  attempt¬ 
ing  not  only  to  deal  honestly  with  the  Indian,  but  to  secure 
his  industrial  and  moral  eleyation,  with  a  view  to  his  ulti¬ 
mately  becoming  a  citizen.  To  this  end  is  the  appointment 
of  the  Indian  Commission,  composed  of  men  whose  charac¬ 
ters  are  a  guarantee  of  their  fidelity  and  honesty,  to  super¬ 
vise  the  purchase  and  disbursement  of  supplies,  and  have 
general  inspection  over  Indian  affairs ;  and  the  invitation 
to  the  different  religious  bodies  and  missionary  societies, 
not  merely  to  co-operate,  but  to  take  responsibility  in  the 
work.  In  accordance  with  this  plan,  the  Indian  tribes  are 
placed  under  the  care  of  six  superintendents,  and  are  further 
subdivided  into  about  fifty  agencies.  These  agencies  em¬ 
brace  varying  numbers  of  Indians,  according  to  proximity, 
and  the  full  working  force  in  the  larger  ones  consists  of  an 
agent,  farmer,  blacksmith,  carpenter,  physician,  and  teach¬ 
ers.  The  government  appoints  the  superintendents.  The 
religious  bodies  nominate  the  agent,  and  the  agent  nomi¬ 
nates  his  assistants.  The  whole  of  these  employees,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are  under  the  care  and  super¬ 
vision  of  the  religious  bodies  and  the  missionary  organi¬ 
zations,  as  well  as  of  the  government. 

This  Association  was  the  first  to  accept  and  adopt  the 
new  work  thus  offered.  Six  agencies  are  in  the  nomina¬ 
tion  and  under  the  care  of  the  Association,  viz.:  Eed 
Lake,  Minn. ;  Lake  Superior  and  Green  Bay,  Wis. ;  Fort 
Berthold  and  Sisseton,  Dakota ;  and  S’Kokomish,  W.  T. 

liBLIGIOUS  WORK. 

The  religious  work  among  this  people  for  the  last  few 
years  has  thus  been  limited,  and  has  been  confined  to  terri- 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


tory  which  had  been  previously  occupied  by  its  missions. 
Many  interesting  reminiscences  and  ripened  fruits  of  those 
earlier  labors  appear  from  time  to  time,  giving  assurance 
that  they  were  not  in  vain.  As  returning  prosperity 
throughout  the  country,  and  the  increased  resources  of  our 
treasury  will  permit,  this  work  will  be  extended. 

IN  AFRICA. 

As  has  been  seen,  the  very  first  work  which  was  provi¬ 
dentially  thrown  upon  this  Association,  at  its  organization 
in  1846,  was  the  Mendi  Mission,  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa. 
In  1855,  Eev.  Charles  Avery  gave  to  it  $100,000  worth  of 
property,  to  be  held  in  perpetual  trust,  the  income  to  be  ex¬ 
pended  in  maintaining  this  and  similar  work  on  the  conti¬ 
nent  of  Africa.  The  mission  has  been  maintained  (as  may 
be  seen  from  the  fuller  history  published  in  1878)  with 
varying  forces  and  successes,  though  without  interruption. 

While  recent  explorations  have  been  awakening  neiv  in¬ 
terest  in  that  great  continent,  the  progress  of  our  educa- 
tioual  and  religious  work  at  home  has  been  preparing  men 
of  African  descent  to  go  back  to  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
carrying  the  light  of  life  with  them.  On  the  23d  of  Sep¬ 
tember,  1877,  three  such  missionaries,  with  their  wives  and 
little  ones — eleven  souls  in  all — set  sail  for  the  Mendi  Mis¬ 
sion,  which  they  reached  November  30th,  and  where  they 
at  once  vigorously  began  their  work.  Snelson,  James  and 
White,  all  three  born  into  slavery,  educated  since  the  war 
at  Atlanta,  Howard  and  Hampton,  are  the  minister,  the 
physician  and  the  teacher  of  the  re-organized  mission.  Un¬ 
willing  to  encounter  the  risks  of  attempting  to  carry  on  the 
work  short-handed,  two  others,  with  their  wives,  were,  ex- 


HISTORY  OP  THE  ASSOCIATION. 


17 


actly  five  months  later,  sent  on  their  way  to  join  their 
brethren  already  in  the  field.  February  23d,  1878,  Eev. 
Albert  Miller  and  Rev.  Andrew  E.  Jackson,  with  their 
wives,  sailed  from  New  York  for  Africa,  by  way  of  England. 
The  four  were  all  students  in  the  higher  classes  of  Fisk 
University,  and  offered  themselves  willingly  for  the  work. 
From  their  intelligent  and  zealous  devotion,  with  the  co¬ 
operation  of  those  who  have  preceded  them  to  this  foreign 
field,  we  look  for  a  steadier  growth  and  a  more  enduring 
success  than  it  has  yet  been  our  privilege  to  record. 

CONCLUSION. 

Thus,  in  its  providential  and  unanticipated  unfolding, 
its  history  shows  the  American  Missionary  Association  to 
be  a  friend  and  helper  to  the  weak  and  the  despised  races— 
despised  of  men  but  not  of  God,  nor  of  those  like  Him.  It 
is  enough  to  remember  that  they  who  do  good  to  the  least, 
are  acknowledged  by  the  Greatest  of  all  as  having  done  it 
unto  Him. 


THE  AMEKICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION. 


*Statisti('s  of  its  Work  and  Workers— October,  1877, 

WORKERS. 

Missionaries — At  the  South,  ;  among  the  Indians,  3  ;  in  the 

Foreign  field,  3.  Total .  Co 

Teachers — At  the  South,  134;  among  the  Chinese,  17  ;  among 

the  Indians,  7 ;  in  the  Foreign  field,  4.  Total .  162 

Matrons,  11  ;  in  the  Business  Department,  14.  Total .  25 

Total  number  of  Workers . . .  252 

CHURCHES. 

At  the  South,  59  ;  among  the  Indians,  2 ;  in  the  Foreign  field,  1. 

Total .  62 

CHURCH  MEMBERS. 

At  the  South,  4,048 ;  among  the  Indians,  37 ;  in  the  Foreign 

field,  42.  Total .  4,127 

Total  number  of  Sabbath-school  Scholars .  7,036 

SCHOOLS. 

At  the  South — Chartered  Institutions,  8  ;  other  Institutions,  11  ; 

Common  Schools,  7.  Total .  26 

Among  the .  Chinese,  11 ;  among  the  Indians,  5  ;  in  the  For¬ 
eign  field,  3.  Total .  19 

Total  number  of  Schools .  45 

PUPILS.' 

At  the  South — Theological,  74 ;  Law,  8 ;  Collegiate,  79 ; 
Collegiate  Preparatory,  154;  Normal,  1,333;  Grammar, 

632;  Intermediate,  1,222;  Primary,  1,990;  (studying  in 
two  grades,  88).  Total .  5,404 

Among  the  Chinese,  1,155;  among  the  Indians,  287  ;  in  the 
Foreign  field,  116.  Total .  1,558 

Total  number  of  Pupils .  6,962 

Scholars  in  the  South  taught  by  our  former  Pupils  estimated  at  100,000. 

Since  these  statistics  were  presented  at  the  Annual  Meeting,  NINE 
COLORED  MISSIONARIES  have  been  sent  to  our  Mendi  Mission  in 
Africa. 


Educational  Institutions, 

FOUNDED  OE  FOSTEEED  IN  THE  SOUTH  BY  THE 

AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION. 

♦ - 


CHARTERED  INSTITUTIONS. 

Hampton  N.  and  A.  Institute,  Hampton,  Va. 

Number  of  Pupils,  274  ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  180. 
Beeea  College,  Berea,  Ky. 

Number  of  Pupils,  263 ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  180. 

Fisk  Univeesity,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Number  of  Pupils,  246 ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  150. 

Atlanta  Univeesity,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Number  of  Pupils,  214;  Boarding  accommodations  for  150. 

Talladega  College,  Talladega,  Ala. 

Number  of  Pupils,  214  ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  100. 

Tougaloo  Univeesity,  Tougaloo,  Miss. 

Number  of  Pupils,  232  ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  90. 

Steaight  Univeesity,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Number  of  Pupils,  242  ;  Boarding  accommodations  for  75. 

Noemal  Institute,  Austin,  Texas — Number  of  Pupils,  137. 

OTHER  INSTITUTIONS. 

WiLLiSTON  School,  Wilmington,  N.  C.  —  Number  of  Pupils,  93 


Washington  School,  Ealeigh,  N.  C  “  “  360 

Aveey  Institute,  Charleston,  S.  C.  “  “  268 

Beewee  Noemal  School,  Greenwood,  S.  C.  “  “  49 

Stoees  School,  Atlanta,  Ga.  “  “  791 

Lewis  High  School,  Macon,  Ga.  “  “  89 

Teinity  School,  Athens,  Ala.  “  “  139 

Emeeson  Institute,  Mobile,  Ala.  “  “  147 

Swayne  School,  Montgomery,  Ala.  “  “  445 

Bueeell  School,  Selma,  Ala.  “  “  421 

LeMoyne  School,  Memphis,  Tenn.  “  “  211 


Chartered  Institutions . 8 

Other  Institutions .  11 

Common  Schools .  7 


Total  number  of  Educational  Institutions 


26 


J 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION. 

Xo,  r>(i  READE  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 


LETTERS  AND  OTHER  COMMUNICATIONS 

relatir^  to  the  Association  should  be  addressed  to  the  Corresponding 
Secretary,  Rev.  M.  E.  Stkieby,  56  Reade  Street,  New  York  City. 

DONATIONS  AND  SUBSCRIPTIONS 

may  be  sent  to  H.  W.  Hubbard,  Esq.,  .56  Reade  Street,  New  York;  Rev. 
C.  L.  Woodworth,  21  Congregational  House,  Boston,  Mass. ;  Rev.  James 
Powell,  113  West  Washington  Street,  Chicago,  Ill. 

Drafts  or  Checks,  sent  to  New  York,  should  be  made  payable  to  H. 
W.  Hubbard,  Assistant  Treasurer. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

A  payment  of  Thirty  Dollars,  at  one  time,  or  several  payments  to 
that  amount  within  a  year,  will  constitute  a  person  a  Life  Member. 

LEGACIES. 

Important  legacies  have  been  lost  to  the  Association  by  informality. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  give  the  full  name:  “The  American  Mission¬ 
ary  Association.”  The  following  form  of  bequest  may  be  used  : 

I  BEQUEATH  to  my  exccutor  [or  executors]  the  sum  of - dollars,  in  trust,  to 

pay  the  same  in -  days  after  my  decease,  to  the  person  who,  when  the  same  is 

payable,  shall  act  as  Treasurer  of  the  “American  Missionary  Association,”  New 
York  City,  to  be  applied  under  the  direction  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  that 
Association,  to  its  charitable  uses  and  purposes. 

The  Will  should  be  attested  by  three  witnesses  (in  some  States  three 
are  required ;  in  other  States  only  two),  who  should  write  against  their 
names  their  places  of  residence,  (if  in  cities,  the  street  and  number).  The 
following  form  of  attestation  will  answer  for  every  State  in  the  Union: 

“Signed,  sealed,  published  and  declared  by  the  said  (A.  B.)  as  his  last  Will  and 
Testament,  in  the  presence  of  us,  who,  at  the  request  of  the  said  (A.  B.)  and  in  his 
presence,  and  in  the  presence  of  each  other,  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names 
as  witnesses.” 

In  some  States  it  is  required  that  charitable  bequests  should  be  made  at 
least  two  months  before  the  death  of  the  testator. 


THE  AMERICAN  MISSIONARY 

is  published  monthly,  at  56  Reade  Street.  Terms,  Fifty  Cents  per  year, 
payable  in  advance. 


